Lt. Conrad Graf Reichenbach

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

Dear Forum Members

Tomorrow there will be the 100^th anniversary of death of the first of my three great uncles (they were brothers) who as Prussian officers lost their lives in WWI:

 

Conrad Graf von Reichenbach-Goschütz
born 13th of Aug. 1897 in Goschütz Castle, Silesia      
Leutnant in the Leib Kürassier Regiment „Großer Kurfürst“ Nr. 1 (Schlesisches)   
2nd Lt in the Life Cuirassier Regiment „Great Elector“ No. 1 (Silesian),      
being killed as a readily trained one-seater fighter pilot in a plane crash at the Jagdstaffelschule 1, Famars, Northern France.

 

Here to be seen (at the right) with his brothers Fabian (middle) who died in Dec. 18 of after-effects of a headshot, and Heinrich (left) who was cut down by British cavalry on 8^th Aug. 18 in the Battle of Amiens when he had refused to surrender.

The 4^th brother, my grandfather, also served with the Life Cuirassiers as a cadet at the age of 17, in close combat being wounded and taken POW in Northern France. – He later also in WW2 survived action and prisonship in Russia. - Our family was close to going extinct. - Conrad and his Brothers are strongly being remembered by my Family

Heinrich

 

 

 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear Heinrich v. R-G,

At least your grandfather survived. What was his name, one wonders? Perhaps you have his military portrait, too?

Interestingly, another Great War Forum aficionado recently attached a photograph of an unknown German officer - wondering about his uniform tunic. The collar and cuffs strongly resemble that of the Leibkürassier Nr. 1...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

Kimberley John Lindsay.

[GreyC]

Hi,

interesting photo of your ancestor Conrad Graf von Reichenbach-Goschütz he wears the Kürassier-Uniform but, if I see it correctly, the shoulderboards of the Luftstreitkräfte.

@ Kimberly : The similarity between the uniform of Count von Reichenbach-Goschütz and the one you mentioned in the other thread is based on the fact that both served as Kürassiere (as I wrote in that thread) and hence had similar uniforms. However, the soldier in the other thread is not an officer, as far as I can see.

GreyC

Edited 21 March , 2018 by GreyC

[charlie2]

A tragedy for the family, I gather Heinrich is still among the missing.

 

3 hours ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear Heinrich v. R-G,

At least your grandfather survived. What was his name, one wonders? 

 

Christoph - his ICRC records are here https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/142909/1/2/

 

Charlie

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

@charlie2

Many thanks for posting the ICRC link - it was unknown to me, and I am happy indeed to have got this information now.

[RobynM]

My grandfather (on my fathers side) was an NCO in the German Cavalry 1914-18 in Russia, France, my husbands grandfathers and uncles were all Australian Imperial Force 14-18 and 39-45.

[RobynM]

RIP Conrad Graf von Reichenbach-Goschütz

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

@charlie2

A tragedy for the Family indeed, hard to imagine how my great-grandparents managed to overcome the loss - they needed all their  Prussian attitude and strength for it.

Yes, my great uncle Heinrich is still among the missed. But the fact and details of his death are known because being witnessed and reported by two of his men:

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

Source: "Helden-Gedenkmappe des deutschen Adels (v. Schoenermark 1921)

[charlie2]

Thank you for posting the extract, am I correct in thinking „Elfern“ refers to Grenadier Regiment Nr 11? It is interesting to note that your Great Grandfather also served during the war as a Major in the Leib-Kürassier Regiment 1.

 

Charlie

[Fattyowls]

Heinrich, thank you for posting this. Can I ask how old your three great uncles were? They look so young.

 

Pete.

 

Pas oublié/Nicht vergessen/Not forgotten.

 

 

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

@Fattyowls
the 3 brothers were young: Heinrich was born in Feb. 1895, Fabian in July 1896 and Conrad in Aug. 1897. My grandfather Christoph was born in June 1900.

 

@charlie2

Yes indeed, the "Elfern" was the Grenadier Regiment Nr. 11 which in 1914  belonged to the 11. Kavallerie Brigade as well, as the LeibkürassierNr. 1 did. Later in 1918 the "Elfer" belonged to the 117. Division which had been deployed to the Amiens frontline 2 days before the offensive of the 8th of August started. At that stage, Heinrich was a staff officer of the I. Bt/11.

Yes, as a major of reserve, my great grandfather in 1914 immediately went into war, together with his eldest son Heinrich. - May I ask where you got the Information from that my great grandfather did so?
- Here you see an early photo of him, being in full cuirassier dress.

 

 

[charlie2]

Thank you for posting the photo and for the further information, what a great photo! How lucky you are that the photos survived the later turmoil. I found the reference to your Great Grandfather in this article http://www.gross-wartenberg.de/sukgw/s186.html while search for information on Schloß Goschütz. The Schloß was obviously a magnificent building before the fire. Do think Conrad‘s decision to train as a pilot may have been influenced by your family‘s friendship with the von Richthofen family?

 

Charlie

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

@charlie2

Yes, Goschütz was marvellous indeed. Our family did not manage to save substantial goods from loss and destruction at the end of WW2. From the property and from family members there are only a few photographies left that had early been send to relatives living in Western parts of Germany.

At  that stage Conrad's decision to become a fighter plane pilot was not unusual for young cavalry officers. In 1916 most cavalry units had to "dismount" and to man the trenches. Many cavalry units were amalgamed to the "Kavallerie Schützen Einheiten". Many young officers were fascinated by the idea of air fighting which seemingly was knightly, honourable and, of course, heroic.

What our family know is, that all 3 brothers felt being "underutilized" when they were serving with the Leibkürassiere in Galicia and Hungary. Therefore Heinrich applied for service with the GrenR 11, in order to do fighting at the hot spots, and both his brothers applied for one-seater pilot training where Conrad had been admitted for, but Fabian not, due to an injury. Thus Fabian continued service with the Leibkürassiere.

I cannot confirm closer relationships or even friendship between the Reichenbach and the Richthofen families. Of course they knew each other; my great-grandfather and Manfred v. Richthofen's father both had served with the Leibkürassiere, and both were majors of reserve of the regiment. But I am not sure wether both families were sufficiently matching for keeping a closer friendship running. But shortly before Conrad had his lethal plane crash, he had bravorously passed his pilot exam, and decision had been made to command him under Richthofen's wings in the Flying Circus. But it is quite conceivable that my great grandfather might have exerted some influence upon father and son von Richthofen, in order to move things in that sense.

 

Heinrich

 

[charlie2]

Heinrich,

Many thanks for your informative and very interesting reply. Perhaps aquaintance would have been a better choice of words on my part rather than friendship. Your Great Uncles were obviously very brave men, I expect many would have chosen a different path.

 

Charlie

[Mati]

On 26.03.2018 at 15:25, Heinrich von Reichenbach said:

@kasia2

Tak, Goschütz był naprawdę cudowny. Nasza rodzina nie zdołała ocalić znacznych dóbr przed utratą i zniszczeniem pod koniec drugiej wojny światowej. Z posiadłości i od członków rodziny pozostało tylko kilka fotografii, które zostały wcześniej wysłane do krewnych mieszkających w zachodnich częściach Niemiec.

Na tym etapie decyzja Conrada o zostaniu pilotem myśliwca nie była niczym niezwykłym dla młodych oficerów kawalerii. W 1916 r. większość jednostek kawalerii musiała „zsiąść” i obsadzić okopy. Wiele jednostek kawalerii zostało połączonych z „Kavallerie Schützen Einheiten”. Wielu młodych oficerów było zafascynowanych ideą walk powietrznych, pozornie rycerskich, honorowych i oczywiście heroicznych.

Nasza rodzina wie, że wszyscy trzej bracia czuli się „niedostatecznie wykorzystani”, kiedy służyli w Leibkürassiere w Galicji i na Węgrzech. Dlatego Heinrich zgłosił się do służby w GrenR 11, aby walczyć w newralgicznych punktach, a obaj jego bracia zgłosili się na jednomiejscowe szkolenie pilotów, na które przyjęto Conrada, ale nie Fabiana, z powodu kontuzji. W ten sposób Fabian kontynuował służbę w Leibkürassiere.

Nie mogę potwierdzić bliższych relacji ani choćby przyjaźni między rodzinami Reichenbachów i Richthofenów. Oczywiście, że się znali; mój pradziadek i ojciec Manfreda v. Richthofena służyli w Leibkürassiere i obaj byli majorami rezerwy pułku. Ale nie jestem pewien, czy obie rodziny były wystarczająco dopasowane, aby utrzymać bliższą przyjaźń. Jednak na krótko przed śmiercionośną katastrofą samolotu Conrad odważnie zdał egzamin pilotażowy i podjęto decyzję, by dowodzić nim pod skrzydłami Richthofena w Latającym Cyrku. Ale można sobie wyobrazić, że mój pradziadek mógł wywrzeć jakiś wpływ na ojca i syna von Richthofena, aby poruszyć sprawy w tym sensie.

 

Henryka

 

maybe some of your family heirlooms have been preserved in this found chest. As far as I know, burned documents could be seen through the holes.

[AOK4]

@HenryTheGerman Heinrich will be very interested undoubtedly in these pictures.

[Mati]

Grób Conrada i pomnik ku czci braci położyłem mu w innym temacie

 

maybe in return I will hear something about the tunnel between goschutz and festenberg

Edited 7 January , 2022 by Mati

[Interested]

One would hope that the contents of the chest would be returned to the original owners - let's hope Heinrich reads this thread after all this time.

[Mati]

I think that after the renovation, the originals go to the museum. But some walls or copies should be given to the family. Was any of the gentlemen present on the occasion of the renovation of the Evangelical church? 

https://wroclaw.tvp.pl/57710145/goszcz-pod-gruzami-palacu-odkryto-zabytkowa-skrzynie-czy-zawiera-skarb

[charlie2]

1 hour ago, Mati said:

I think that after the renovation, the originals go to the museum. But some walls or copies should be given to the family. Was any of the gentlemen present on the occasion of the renovation of the Evangelical church? 

https://wroclaw.tvp.pl/57710145/goszcz-pod-gruzami-palacu-odkryto-zabytkowa-skrzynie-czy-zawiera-skarb

Thanks for the link Mati.

A translation of the article:

Workers from a construction company that is rebuilding an 18th century palace in Goszcz found an antique chest under the rubble. The chest most probably contains documents of the Reichenbach family, to which the estate belonged before the war.
The chest is over a hundred years old, how old exactly? We do not know. Nobody has opened it yet. There are traces of burning. It probably survived the palace fire. 

- Now it will be returned to the workshop and restored. You can see through the holes that it hides some paper," says archaeologist Marcin Skuła. 
For several weeks builders have been removing debris from the ruins of the palace. Every day they come across treasures. Sometimes these are metal balustrades, sometimes mosaics on the floors. Sometimes it's huge fragments of decorative sandstone fireplaces or even full beer bottles from many years ago. The Goszcz Palace was built in the 18th century. Although today it is a ruin, it still surprises. 

The contractor has one more year to complete the works. - The scope of work includes clearing the ruin, there is more or less from one and a half to even 3 meters of debris, in which we find treasures', admits Paweł Czuliński, the Mayor of Twardogóra. 

After removing the debris it will be necessary to strengthen the remains of the wall structure. Then the steel construction will be installed in the place of the former staircase, after which the tourists will get to the vantage point on the floor of the former palace, from where they will be able to admire the view of the courtyard and the park.
 

[HenryTheGerman]

Hello Jan and Mait,

thanks for the posting - me and my family already got informed about the finding of the trowe. Certainly it was one of the many trowes that were standing in the attic. One of the servants had to open them each quarter of a year, in order to vent the clothes and other stuff that was in there. - I do not expect that there still were valuable or important goods in the trowe when the castle had been set on fire in winter 1947. First, he Russian and Polish forces and later the many people who had occupied the buildings (some convent nuns among them) have had by far enough time to completely loot the castle. It goes without saying that all the troves had been opened ... !

Regards

Heinrich

[Mati]

@HenryTheGermando you know anything about tunnel / tunnels?  There is a legend among the locals that it connected the palace in Goszcz with the one in Twardogóra. As a child, I heard stories of people who were supposed to play in it when they were little themselves. I know two places that may be the ground infrastructure of these undergrounds.  one commonly known halfway between Goszcz and Twardogóra, the other I ran into a long time ago in the forest when I was young.  after so many years, I would probably still find them.  I just don't know if the tunnel is a legend and these buildings have nothing to do with it and the imagination works 🙈

[AOK4]

41 minutes ago, Mati said:

@HenryTheGermando you know anything about tunnel / tunnels?  There is a legend among the locals that it connected the palace in Goszcz with the one in Twardogóra. As a child, I heard stories of people who were supposed to play in it when they were little themselves. I know two places that may be the ground infrastructure of these undergrounds.  one commonly known halfway between Goszcz and Twardogóra, the other I ran into a long time ago in the forest when I was young.  after so many years, I would probably still find them.  I just don't know if the tunnel is a legend and these buildings have nothing to do with it and the imagination works 🙈

Oh, tunnel legends... They are everywhere, but they are very rarely true. How far apart are the two buildings, if I may ask?

[Mati]

4 km, I also come across information on the internet about tunnels from the palace to the church, chapel and evangelical school.  the farthest buildings are about 500m.only what I know is in a different direction.  Maybe tomorrow I will go for a walk and I will be able to photograph these objects ..